STOP THE FORCED EVICTION OF VILLAGERS TO MAKE WAY FOR A BRITISH-OWNED MINE

Cerrejon Coal and the Colombian courts are threatening to evict indigenous and afro-descendent villagers at Roche, in the northern province of La Guajira, on Thursday 29 August. They want to expand their massive opencast mine. Cerrejon Coal is owned by three mega mining multinationals listed on the London Stock Exchange and with offices in London: Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Glencore Xstrata.

The company has already bullied many villagers into moving to an urban site which is no good for those who want to carry on farming or keeping cattle. The families who remain in the old village are holding out for an agreement that would compensate them for what they have suffered over the past few years as mining has come ever closer to their homes, and move them to a site big enough for them to carry on their agricultural way of life.

In August, 2001, the company evicted the afro-descendent inhabitants of another small farming village called Tabaco, bulldozing homes to make way for mine expansion. The villagers had already said they were willing to move - but they wanted a decent relocation agreement that would enable them to live together and carry on farming. The company's response was to flood the village with armed police and security guards and beat anyone who resisted having their house destroyed. The three multinationals said this would never happen again. It looks like it is about to happen again at Roche.

We demand that Cerrejon Coal, its three London-listed corporate owners, and the Colombian Government, STOP the eviction planned for 29 August and come to a just and decent agreement.

Featured

London Mining Network

The London Mining Network (LMN) is an alliance of human rights, development and environmental groups. We pledge to expose the role of companies, funders and government in the promotion of unacceptable mining projects.